Simi Garewal

Simi Garewal
Garewal in Jan 2012
Born	Simrita Garewal (1947-10-17) 17 October 1947 Ludhiana, Punjab, India
Occupation	Film actor, Producer, director, Chat show Hostess
Years active	1962 – present
Spouse(s)	Ravi Mohan (divorced)
Relatives	Pamela Chopra (cousin) Aditya Chopra (nephew) Uday Chopra (nephew)
Website	Personal website

Simi Garewal (born 17 October 1947) is an Indian actress and a talk show hostess. She is known for her work in the films Do Badan, Saathi, Mera Naam Joker, Siddhartha and Karz. She is also known for her celebrity talk show, Rendezvous with Simi Garewal.

Early life

Simi Garewal was born in Muktsar, Punjab, India, in a Jat Sikh family.^[1][2] Her father, Brigadier J. S. Garewal served in the Indian Army. Simi is a cousin of Pamela Chopra, wife of film-maker Yash Chopra. Simi's mother Darshi and Pamela's father Mohinder Singh were siblings.^[3] Simi grew up in England and studied at Newland House School with her sister Amrita.^[4]

Film and television career

After spending much of her childhood in England, Garewal returned to India while a teenager. Her facility with the English language induced the makers of the English-language film Tarzan Goes to India to offer her a role. A 15-year-old, Garewal made her debut alongside Feroz Khan in this film in 1962.^[5] Her performance was good enough for her to fetch many more film offers. During the 1960s and '70s, she was in several notable Indian films, working with leading directors such as Mehboob Khan's Son of India, Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker (1970), Satyajit Ray in Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest), Mrinal Sen in Padatik (The Guerilla Fighter) and Raj Khosla in Do Badan. She starred opposite Shashi Kapoor in Columbia Pictures' Siddhartha, an English-language movie based on the novel by Hermann Hesse. Garewal did a nude scene in this film which caused some controversy in India.^[6] Later, in the mid-1970s, she made an appearance in the popular film Kabhi Kabhie (1976), made by her uncle Yash Chopra, and had a starring role in Chalte Chalte (1976).^[7] Another notable role she played was as a vamp in Karz (1980). She starred in the BBC docu-drama Maharajas (1987), based on the book by Charles Allen.

In the early 1980s, her attention turned to writing and direction. She formed her own production company, Siga Arts International. She hosted, produced and directed a TV series for Doordarshan called It's a Woman's World (1983). She also made a documentary for Channel 4 in the UK called Living Legend Raj Kapoor (1984). This was followed by a three-part documentary on Rajiv Gandhi titled India's Rajiv. She wrote and directed a Hindi feature film Rukhsat and produced television commercials, for which she won the first prize from the 1988 Pater's Award in Australia.

Garewal anchored the talk show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal.^[8]

She usually wears her signature white clothes on TV shows and at award ceremonies, and is popularly known as "The Lady in White".^[9] Garewal recently appeared on Say Shava Shava 2008 as a host and judge.^[10] After the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008, Simi Garewal created a wave of love & admiration by publicly calling for the Indian government to "carpet-bomb" the training camps of terrorist nation Pakistan.

She returned to television with her new talk show India's Most Desirable on Star Plus which would interview only eligible singles, Bollywood actors, business and media icons, and Indian cricketers about their "ideal and desirable beaus".^[11]

Simi Garewal has her own website which she uses to interact with her fans: www.simigarewal.com. The site has her voice reading the text. She also has her own channel on YouTube where all her shows and documentaries are uploaded. The channel has received over 40 million views.

Personal life

Garewal had her first serious relationship at the age of 17, with then Maharaja of Jamnagar, who was also her neighbor in England.^[12] In the early 1980s, Garewal dated Salman Taseer, a Pakistani businessman.^[13]

Garewal was married to Ravi Mohan of Chunnamal family from old Delhi but her marriage was short and she is now divorced.^[14]

Popularity

Simi Garewal is a popular TV host and has acted in few Bollywood movies. In 1972, in Siddhartha with actor Shashi Kapoor, the movie couldn't be released in India due to censorship and created controversy.^[15][16]

Filmography

As an actress

Television

Awards and nominations

• 1966–Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award – Do Badan
• 1968–Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award – Saathi
• 1980–Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Karz
• 1999–Screen Awards for Best Talk Show & Best Anchor
• 2001–RAPA Award for Best Anchor & Talk show
• 2003–Indian Television Academy Award for Best Anchor
• 2003–Rotary Award for Vocational Excellence in Media & Television
• 2004–Indian Filmgoers Association Award Best Talk Show

References

• Kesavan, Mukul. "The Mumbai tragedy and the English language news media", The Telegraph, 4 December 2008.

External links

• Simi Garewal's Official YouTube Channel, of Siga Arts International
• Simi Garewal: the icon of style
• Bollywood501 portrait
• Simi Garewal at the Internet Movie Database